Lancaster cobbler says attention has been "unreal" after 'Cinderella' shoes quest goes global

Thursday, 17 August 2023 10:16

By Greg Lambert @greglam72

A Lancaster cobbler's 'Cinderella' mission to reunite a pair of shoes with their owner has grabbed the imagination of people all over the world.

Peter Corke found a pair of sandals outside his shop in Lancaster city centre, repaired them, then posted on social media trying to find who they belonged to.

Peter's quest went viral and has been all over the national media, even making news in Germany and Australia!

The tale had a happy ending, as the shoes were reunited with their owner after her mum came into The Market Cobbler to claim them.

LISTEN to Peter Corke explaining how finding a pair of broken shoes outside his shop sparked an international media frenzy

"Saturday morning I came to work, about seven/half seven ish," said Peter.

"There was a pair of shoes, more or less on the doorstep. I realised they were strappy sandals and one of the straps had come away.

"So I picked them up, brought them in the shop, quickly mended them and I thought, I'd better find out whose they are.

"'The 'Lancaster Past and Present' (page) on Facebook, I posted a picture on there. There was quite a lot of interest and then the media picked up on it."

Peter's search made the news in The Daily Mirror, The Independent, ITV and was talked about on Scott Mills' Radio 2 show.

"I've done quite a few radio interviews, it's been all over the country," he said.

"It's even made the news in Germany and Australia.

"It's unreal. It's a different story, there's a bit of mystery which has now been solved. It was interesting to say the least.

"They say everyone's famous for 15 minutes and I've had mine this week."

Here is Peter pictured outside his shop with the shoes.

Peter, who has been repairing shoes for 44 years, said he'd had quite a few people tagging friends in on Facebook posts, thinking the sandals might belong to them, as well as passersby popping in to the New Street shop for updates.

Then yesterday, the shoes' owner was finally found!

"A lady came into the shop and explained the shoes were her daughter's," said Peter.

"With all the publicity, her daughter was a little bit embarrassed about coming into collect them. A lovely lady, she explained what had happened, which I won't go into.

"She insisted on paying, which I didn't want, so we donated the money to Wolfwood (animal rescue) charity.

"It was a happy ending, Cinderella had found her shoes!"